A Happy Fuzzy Blog

Oh, am I actually supposed to post once in a while?

So, I guess I just haven't really felt like blogging lately.  Stuff happens, and I think "oh, that would be a good thing to blog about," and then I never get around to it.  The blogging bug seems to have un-bit me.  But I'll see if I can give you a pathetic rundown of what's been going on before I leave to go grocery shopping.

I'm almost done with my alpaca/wool cardigan.  I redid the ribbing at the bottom and did the front bands and collar all in corrugated rib with the brown for the purl and the multicolored for the knit, and it looks cool.  I'm almost done with one sleeve, and it's actually the right size this time, so I just have to finish that and do the other sleeve.  (No time right now for photos or I'll have to take a later bus.)  I bought buttons for it yesterday when I went to Knit-A-Round for World Wide Knit in Public Day.  We sat outside and took turns knitting on a monster scarf with 25 mm needles.  Yes, 25 mm.  I didn't leave out a decimal.  US size 50.  It took me a while to get the hang of knitting with needles that huge.  They were like freaking broom handles.  Bizarre.

Let's see, what else...I finished the socks I was knitting.  Started two more pairs.  Yeah, this would be a lot better with photos.  I've been spinning.  I still need to photograph the yarn I finished a couple of months ago.  I just haven't felt like taking pictures.  Haven't felt like dyeing either.  I guess it's something I really just feel like doing in spurts.  I enjoy doing it when I'm doing it, but I really can't do it full time.  I've been thinking about what direction I want to take the business, since it seems the only way I can grow is if I really do the dyeing full time on top of my full time library job.  If I were one of those super-energetic people who can thrive on only 3-4 hours of sleep a night, that might be doable.  I am not one of those people.

I need time to do other things as well, to pursue other interests, to meditate, to relax, to get enough sleep, or I become depressed and physically ill. 

And yet, I don't want to give up the business entirely.  And I don't think I have to.  I just have to give up the idea of having it grow.  I just have to accept that I dye when I feel like dyeing.  The muse shows up when she wants to.  She's not at my beck and call. 

Of course, the IRS is going to want me to show a profit eventually if I'm going to call myself a business.  Um, yeah.  A profit would be nice.

Ok, time to catch the bus.

A Video for you

Yep, I still exist.  I've just been busy with stuff and having a bunch of migraines so I haven't felt like blogging.  I still need to photograph the handspun and get that up on the shop site, but I just haven't been up to it.  Hopefully within the next week.  I wanted to share this video with you though.  Watch it.  It's quite good. 

Woolly woolly woolly!

Now, that's an update!  I just added a whole whack of BFL top and a couple skeins of sock yarn to the shop.  Here's some of the fiber:

It's Carmen Miranda series: Tutti frutti hat.

And here's the sock yarn:

It's superwash merino sport weight in Crocus.  (It's spring!  It's spring!  It's spring!  It's spring!)

Ok, I've got to go to bed.

(Oh, I'll be adding some handspun to the store in a few days -- it's just hanging to dry.)

Woolly dreams!

Life is good

Last night I got to see two of my favorite people, Stephanie and Lynn.

It was a hoot from the time I got there.  The original plan was that Lynn and her friend Rae would get there earlier than me and save me a seat.  But then I got an email from Lynn that afternoon saying they wouldn't be able to get there until later, but that Rachael would be there earlier and save us all seats.  Just one catch.  Neither Rachael nor I had ever met each other, nor did we have any idea what the other looked like. 

So when I got there at 5:40 and the room was full except for saved seats, I did the only thing I could do.  I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Is there a Rachael here who's supposed to be saving seats for me, LynnH, and Rae?"  A hand shot up at the front of the room and a voice rang out, "I'm her mother!"  Hey!  Alright!  Second row!  Hi, Rachael's mom!

Rachael came in a little later, so I got to meet her, and then Lynn and Rae showed up about 15 minutes before Stephanie.

Steph gave a great talk as always.  She compared knitters to Buddhist monks, which is great company to be in.  I want to read more about the physical changes in the brain she was talking about because that stuff fascinates me.  I think if I were forced to go into a medical field I would choose neurology or public health.  (What can I say?  I see medical journal articles every day.  Those are the ones that grab my interest the most.)  Her talk also made me think I should knit more.

After her talk I had her hold my sock.

Then I had Lynn hold my sock.

Then Lynn, Rae and I went to Seva for dinner.  Wonderful food, wonderful conversation.  It was a great evening.

As I sat knitting my sock on the bus ride home, I thought how fortunate I am to live in Ann Arbor, a destination city.  I had overheard a lot of people say where they had come from, and a lot of them had come quite far.  I had just left work and walked for 15 minutes to get to AADL.  And after I left Seva, I just had to walk for a minute or two to get to the bus station, then take a half hour bus trip home, during which I could knit.  I'm so lucky to live in a city where events are held.   Next weekend, the Dalai Lama.  It all keeps coming back to Buddhist monks, doesn't it?

My life is good.  I'm glad I made the choices I made, which gradually rebuilt my life into what it is today.  I like my life the way it is.  Happiness is sweet.

Oh good, no dinosaurs

I have discovered that while one is trying to sleep away the pain of a migraine, and one is awakened by the sound of garbage trucks driving around the neighborhood, picking up dumpsters, emptying them, and slamming them back down on the ground, it sounds an awful lot like there's a dinosaur thudding around outside.  Except dinosaurs don't make a high pitched "beep beep beep" sound to indicate they're backing up.  No dinosaurs then.  Well, that's good.